Twisted
by xoBrandyxo123
Summary: Gothel steals more than just one princess, causing two little blonde girls to grow up in a life full of solitude. Therefore, when a certain Flynn Rider scales their tower, he makes a deal with a different type of daughter.


Gothel had been serving as a maid in Arendelle when the cries of the Queen giving birth had reached her ears.

She had shrugged during the Queens cries of pain, unconcerned for one of the rulers of this strange kingdom. It had only been too easy to walk through the gates, head low, as she begged for a place of work. The kingdom, widely renowned for its state of generosity and kindness, had all but welcomed her with open arms.

And Gothel was more than happy to taken them up on their offer of hospitality, secretly smirking all the while.

To be fair, the beautiful woman was getting a bit desperate in her search for wealth, and while the sun fallen flower had proven more than faithful in withstanding her youth, it held little in the ways of other materialistic concerns.

So here she was, in this open castle. She held a feather duster loosely in her hand, pretending to dust off some figurine every now and then. But when the guards left the room, and the other workers had retreated to other matters, she would all but lunge at the items on display. Laughing quietly to herself, the scheming woman shoved countless jewels and trinkets into her satchel, her bag growing heavier by the second.

She was in the process of shoving a highly priced artifact in her bag, when another wail joined the Queens, causing Gothel to purse her lips in disgust. After all, she had never had any children, nor had she had the desire to do so. Children wailed and wined, and the curly haired woman had seen the havoc they caused on mothers lives.

Their bodies would grow rounder, their hair duller, and the showing of wrinkles would all but sprinkle their faces. Gothel didn't think she could endure it.

After finally shoving the object under the flap of her bag, she couldn't help but notice the chill that descended into the air. She looked towards the windows, but they were all bolted shut. Rolling her eyes, Gothel thought that huge castles were far too drafty for their own good.

Thoroughly satisfied with her findings, she was in the process of exiting the room when she heard a frantic voice call out to her.

"Ma'am?"

Turning, she was met with the panic stricken face of the King.

"Your highness?" She questioned, before grudgingly bowing before the man.

He ran a finger through his blonde locks, a rare color to be seen, and the despaired state of his being was easy to distinguish. "The Queen, she is not well. She is being rushed to a healer. In the meantime, the new baby, a princess-needs to be looked after."

_Great, _she thought disdainfully, although the concern on her face appeared to be genuine. _Fools, the whole lot of them. _

Knowing that this was more a command than a plea, Gothel nodded her head frantically. "Of course your highness! I will watch after the new babe."

Relieved, the King told her that there would be guards guarding the doors, and that she didn't need to fear for anything.

Nodding once more, the King bid her farewell as he rushed towards the Queens sounds of pain; leaving Gothel to her own devices. She wondered if perhaps she could sneak out anyway, she wasn't some damned nurse maid, but that King _had _seen her face. And the last thing she needed was to be charged with the crime of neglecting the princess.

Huffing angrily, Gothel slowly made her way towards the newborns cries. Upon entering the babes' room, she felt the dip in temperature at a stronger level. Gothel was no expert, but surely the coolness of this summer night was to be deemed rather odd?

Deciding not to be too concerned over the matter, she wrapped the shawl around her shoulders tighter, before making her way into the newborns crib.

Once she peeled back the pink blanket surrounding the new girl, she couldn't help but marvel at her features. Gothel _did _like beautiful things. As long as they weren't more beautiful than her of course.

But this was but a babe, therefore causing no distress to the black haired woman.

The wrinkled babe was pale, almost frighteningly so. _Must be due to thin blood. Royals always were rather sickly. _Her hair however, was a shocking yet beautiful white blonde, a color seemingly one of her own. And her eyes, a bright, crystal blue.

Gothel was enamored.

She could see it now. Raising this beauty, keeping her locked away, until she grew of age and could be sold off to the highest bidder for a large dowry. Because while Gothel liked beautiful things, men loved them.

She would know, after all.

The idea was nearly Ludacris. Stealing the princess? And just so that she could raise her for eighteen years, and then sell her off? It was a despicable, it was mad, and it was absolutely brilliant.

The guards at the door would be none the wiser. They hardly blinked when she entered the princess's room. And the King, well he would be of no concern. Once Gothel made her way back to Corona she would never be found.

Nobody ever found what Gothel didn't want them to.

Deciding to act quickly, she gently grabbed the now quieted babe, who seemed to be in the process of falling asleep. Cradling her gently to her chest, Gothel hurried to tie some sheets together, before tying one end to the window ledge. Making sure the knot was secure, she pulled her hood up and descended, the soon to be missing princess in tow.

-oOo—

Elsa, as Gothel decided to name her, was more than just a beautiful babe.

She was sorceress. Well, that was the only name that she could come up with to describe her daughter.

It was only a year after she had stolen the babe when she had started to notice some rather odd things about the girl. First off, she never flushed. No matter how hard she wailed, or how warm she was, the blonde haired child never seemed to have any color.

But Gothel had just shrugged it off, deciding to blame it on the girls likely poor genetic background.

But soon, the tower was always cold, no matter how strong a fire she lit. And the frost, it seemed to be on everything, all the time.

It soon become apparent on what was causing these things.

Or rather, whom.

Elsa.

Her striking daughter was soon caught making snowflakes, blowing out cold gusts of air, and freezing absolutely everything she touched.

Gothel grew concerned.

Her tower was being destroyed, and her once beautiful babe now had a defect. What would be the use of raising her is she would never be married off. After all, no man would ever want anything to do with someone with a curse.

But she would not let the girl go to waste. She soon punished Elsa whenever something decidedly out of season happened, and the young girl, always wanting to please her mother, learned to suppress her powers. As much as she could at least.

Yet still her hands would freeze everything, despite how many scolding's she got. Growing upset over this obstacle, Gothel was pleasantly surprised to see that when covered, Elsa's powers would be rendered useless.

Thrilled, she bought the young girl a dashing pair of white gloves, reminding the girl to never take them off.

And Elsa, ever obedient, never did.

-oOo—

Her daughter was but three when the Queen of Corona grew pregnant.

Both royals and commoners alike were ecstatic. Save Gothel of course, she never could grow to concern herself over anything that wasn't about her or Elsa.

And her sun fallen flower of course.

She came to it regularly, sighing in pleasure once her fading beauty would be restored once more.

This all changed when the Queen grew sick.

Rumors grew, about the sun fallen flower and how it could cure anything. And soon the royal guard was sent out to retrieve it. Panicked, Gothel made due to conceal her precious flower.

And she did, for the most part.

Not a single sighting of the flower had been seen, causing the King to grow more panicked. Soon more and more parties were out in the woods, and it was all Gothel could do to merely whisper the needed song.

But she managed.

Almost.

She had crept out into the middle of the night to find her well-guarded plant. After being sure to check the area, she was pleased to notice the absence of everyone but herself.

Quickly uncloaking her golden plant, she sang softly and sweetly, and felt her body with store itself once more. She had just finished her ritual when she heard the pounding of hooves, followed by the shouting of men. Panicked, she cloaked her plant once more, rushing to hide behind some bushes.

Only for her lantern to knock off her cover.

Having no choice but to remain hidden, she watched in horror as they both spotted and dug up the plant.

She bit her lip as they rode away with her treasure, but she vowed to get it back.

Nobody _ever _took what was _hers. _

-oOo—

When the new princess was born, all of the Kingdom had been in awe over her beautiful golden hair. _If only they saw little Elsa._

They marveled at the strange color, finding themselves drawn to the rarity of it. But Gothel was no fool. She knew exactly why the babes color was the way it was.

And so Gothel went to retrieve what had been taken from her.

She had felt somewhat anxious about leaving little Elsa on her own while she made way to the castle. But knew that the girls mind had been filled with such tall tales of the outside world that she wouldn't dare leave the sanctuary of their tower.

And so Gothel's fears were forgotten soon after.

It had almost been laughably easy to scale the castle walls leading to the princess's room. All the guards were always guarding the inside of the palace, so there were often few to guard the outside, much to Gothel's pleasure.

She was quick this time, as she skittered towards the babe's crib, where sure enough, her hair was a beautiful golden color.

Giddy, she sang the healing song and watched in fascination as the child's golden hair glowed.

_Perfect._

Taking hold of the scissors she had brought, she made way to snip a few locks, only to recoil in horror once the glowing strands fell dead and brown.

Gasping at the turn of events, she pondered on what to do.

And what an easy decision it was.

_Steal the girl._

And so it was done.

Just as before, Gothel grabbed the baby and quickly scaled down the castle walls, laughing mechanically all the while.

_She was getting rather good at this._

And just like that, little Elsa became a big sister, and Gothel found herself a mother of two beautiful blonde haired girls.

_Princesses._

-oOo—

The two girls clung to each other quickly, and Gothel was glad to be rid of the notation of entertaining them.

Fore Elsa braided Rapunzel's hair, while the little girl in turn painted little blue snowflakes on her sister's cheek.

She was sure install the fear of the outside world to little Rapunzel as well, who turned out to be the more daring one. More than once had she caught the long haired girl leaning out the tower window in wonder.

She had come home one night from her travels to find her little girls whispering amongst themselves as they glanced in her direction.

Sighing, Gothel decided to intervene. "What have I told you about mumbling my sweets?"

Unsurprisingly, it was Rapunzel who was brave enough to answer first. "Mother…Elsa and I were wondering…why you never take us outside with you."

The question caused Gothel's heart to beat rapidly. _Why were they asking these ridiculous questions?_

Schooling her features into that of motherly contempt, she made her tone of voice grow concerned. "You know why my dears, it's because the outside world is full of wicked and evil things, I've explained this to you before."

Flustered, her long haired child tried again. "Well yes but-"

"If you know," Gothel interrupted, falsely sugaring her voice, "then why are you asking?"

This time, it was her fair haired Elsa who spoke up. "Because you go outside Mother, surely you can protect us out there?"

_Ah, she was always the smarter of the two._

"My dears," she crooned, "I can only venture out because I am wise and used to the ways of the world. You two, however are not, and never can be."

"But can't you teach us?" She prodded, a smile enlightening her lovely face.

Now thoroughly irritated, Gothel's voice grew sharp. "I shan't bother, because you two would never make it. I've told you before, that the people outside want to destroy you both. You, for your curse Elsa, and you, for your gift Rapunzel."

Eyes widening with tears, Gothel went through the motion of gathering them both up in her arms. "Hush my darlings, I'm only doing this to protect you. After all, mother knows best."

Pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads, she whispered, "I love you both."

Only to be met with a resounding, "We love you more."

Laughing, the beautiful woman squeezed them tighter. "And I love both of you the most."

After that, they never asked to go outside again.

For a while at least.

-oOo—

Elsa clutched her hands wearily, before deciding to place a gentle hand upon her sister's shaking shoulder.

"Rapunzel," she whispered, "You know mothers only trying to protect us, and she only gets angry because you question her."

The golden haired girl in turn wrapped her hand around her sisters, desperately trying to keep herself from sobbing. "I know…I just thought that maybe because it's my birthday she'd let us out, just once to see the floating lights…"

Sighing, Elsa kissed her sisters cheek in the effort of consoling her. "I know Rapunzel."

Their moment was interrupted however, by the sound of someone scaling the tower. Panicked, the two girls backed away into the corner, Elsa placing a finger in front of her lips in order to keep her nervous sister placated.

The intruder was getting closer, all while the air inside was getting colder. _Relax, _thought Elsa. _Fear only makes it worse._

Clutching each other worriedly, Rapunzel whispered, "Do you think its mother?"

Shaking her white blonde hair, Elsa knew that mother would always call for Rapunzel to let down her long hair first, this was definitely someone wishing to harm them.

Keeping as silent as she could, Elsa was faintly aware of her sister reaching to grab something, before the intruder in question finally hopped into their home.

And not just any intruder, but a _man._

Elsa felt her heart face in fear.

She felt her hands freeze, and she thought faintly that perhaps she could freeze him, only for her sister to creep out of her corner and slam the man over the head with a loud-

_Bang._

Shocked, Elsa turned on her sister accusingly. "Rapunzel! You should have stayed hidden, what if he had heard you!"

Smirking, the long haired girl in turn glanced at her frying pan in appreciation. "Would you look at that?"

Pinching her nose in order to keep calm, Elsa couldn't help but glance at their intruder. "Now what are we going to do? He can't stay in here."

Rapunzel however decided to ignore her as she ran about to grab a chair, just about to reach for the man, only for Elsa to pull her back quickly. "Are you mad? What if he bites you?"

Stopping momentarily, both girls looked at the frightening drawing their mother had made. It was truly hideous, with a large nose and sharp jagged teeth. Just staring at it made them anxious.

Rapunzel, ever the bold, shook off her sister's hold and used the handle of her frying pan in order to open up their knocked out intruder's mouth. They both winced, expecting to see large canines, only to be met with a rather dazzling pair of normal, human teeth.

"What?" They whispered in confusion.

"His teeth look normal to me," stated Rapunzel.

Concerned, Elsa inched her way closer, squinting her blue eyes at the man in appraisal. "Maybe…it's not a man?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a man Elsa."

Suddenly the man started to twitch, startled, Elsa stepped back; nearly tripping over her boots in the process. "Rapunze-" she started, only to be interrupted by her sister slamming her frying pan back over the strangers head again.

"Thanks," she said dryly.

Met with no response, Elsa turned towards her sister, her blonde brows raising in surprise due to the sight before her. "What are you doing?"

Because before her, Rapunzel was struggling to drag the man, and shove him in…the closet?

"What does it look like I'm doing? Hiding him from mother of course."

Moving to grab the strangers other arm, Elsa hesitantly assisted her golden haired sister in shoving him the closet. "He can't stay here forever, and I can assure you mother will _not _be pleased with us."

Shrugging, Rapunzel grinned in triumph once they finally managed to secure him in, placing a chair in front of the door for good measure. "I know, I know. But once she sees how we handled him, she's got to let us see the floating lights."

Glancing at Rapunzel pointedly, Elsa couldn't help but feel exasperated. "She told you never to ask again Rapunzel."

Tucking a golden strand behind her eyes, Rapunzel moved her eyes to the floor. "But it's my birthday," she mumbled.

It wasn't long after before Gothel came home again, asking sweetly for Rapunzel to let down her long hair.

And the process repeated.

Rapunzel asked.

And Rapunzel was shut down.

"Mother," started Elsa quietly, "She was only going to ask if you could get her some of the paint made from seashells, you know, instead of seeing the floating lights."

Tilting her head back in annoyance, Gothel felt the beginning of a headache starting to take place. "That's a three day trip, and…oh, alright."

Standing straight once more, Gothel held both her girls in her arms loosely. "But you must behave, and Elsa, you're in charge."

"Yes mother."

After having packed her needed necessities, Gothel eyes them both warningly. "I'll be back in three days' time."

"Yes mother."

After Gothel descended once more, they bid each other farewell, and were left alone again.

Sort of.

"Well that's that at least," Elsa admitted, turning back to the dresser. "We need to get him out of here now."

Alarmed, Rapunzel eyed her sister in shock. "What, why? We have a _person _in our _closet!"_

"Yes, a person wishing to do us harm Rapunzel! It's dangerous for him to be here."

Pouting, the long haired girl eyed the closet with a somewhat dreamy expression on her face. "You don't know that Elsa."

"Mother said-"

Frustrated, Rapunzel ran her fingers through her hair in annoyance. "I _know _what mother said Elsa. Let's just talk to him at least, you know, just to see what he wants."

Elsa thought it over for a moment, but having felt bad for her sister, decided to begrudgingly agree. "…Fine."

Rapunzel, ever the excited, drug the chair in front of the closet into the center of the room, before opening the doors and letting their assailant fall to the floor.

"Oops."

Muttering under her breath at the absurdity of it all, Elsa helped to place the man in the chair, grabbing an armful of her sister's hair in order to bind him with it. "What makes you think he's going to talk to us?"

Grinning, Rapunzel ran to the man's satchel before opening it and holding out a piece of… jewelry?

"What is that?"

Rapunzel shrugged, before deciding to hide the object in a nearby clay pot she had made. "I'm not sure. But I think it's supposed to go on someone's head. He was holding it when he climbed in, so I know it's important to him.

"And you're going to use that to barter with him?"

Nodding her head excitedly, Rapunzel answered with a confidant, "Uh huh."'

"If you say so."

After they had successfully secured the man, there laid the problem of actual waking him up, since both the girls were still too scared to actually touch him. _I mean, what if he had the plague?_

Thankfully, Pascal took care of it for them.

They watched from the shadows once he started to come to, the confusion clear on his face as he pulled on the hair wrapped around him experimentally. Unsurprisingly, Rapunzel was the first approach him, deftly declaring that, "We're not afraid of you."

Daftly, he attempted to scour the shadows for them, his eyes brightening once he finally glanced at Rapunzel coming out of the darkness.

He remained vague during the questioning, repeatedly reassuring the golden haired girl that he wanted nothing to do with her hair. Rapunzel and Pascal were quick to believe him, but Elsa wasn't so sure.

Mustering up her courage, Elsa too emerged from the shadows. Unlike Rapunzel, Elsa held herself with an air of maturity that was suiting for her age, despite her actual lack of wisdom and knowledge.

In contrast to her sister's plain purple dress, she was wearing a beautiful embroidered blue dress that she had made during one of her sewing sessions, her feet were fitted with simple white heels that she had all but begged her mother for, and her odd white blonde hair was braided neatly down the side.

One could dare to say she looked striking.

Despite the fear that was flooding her body, Elsa made sure that her steps were confidant as she slowly made her way before the man who was staring at her with his mouth slightly open. An act that made Elsa feel self-conscious about her appearance.

"If you haven't come for my sister…then have you come for me?" She asked, her voice betraying her nerves.

Breaking himself out of his daze, Flynn Ryder flashed a cheeky smile to maiden before him. "I didn't come for you, but I wouldn't object to taking you."

Gasping, Elsa took a few step backwards, the air temperature dipping in comparison to the devastated look on her face.

"Whoa, easy there snow, I was just kidding. No need to look so frightened."

Breathing in deeply in order to calm her nerves, the blue eyed girl couldn't help but stare at him wearily. "…what did you call me?"

Cocking his head to the side, Flynn Ryder found himself infatuated with the girl before him. "You know…snow? Because your skin is so pale, and your hair is so light. I thought it suited you."

Toying with her braid nervously, Elsa sent out what she hoped was a convincing smile. "…Thanks.''

Thankfully the awkward moment was interrupted by a very determined Rapunzel, who was dead set on asking the strange man whether or not he knew of the floating lights in the sky.

Elsa too, was curious of his answer.

_Oh, _they were floating _lanterns. _Elsa glanced at the new portrait her sister had painted, and came to the conclusion that he was right.

However, he seemed unconcerned over them, bored even, causing Elsa to glance over at her sister wearily. Yes, they were pretty to gaze upon, but they were far from the prettiest things that the blonde had ever seen. Yet for some reason Rapunzel gazed upon them with her complete and utter adoration.

She should have seen it coming, but her heart clenched painfully when she heard her younger sister banter with this strange fellow. Her hair was frizzing, and her cheeks were pooling with blood, and Elsa came to the conclusion that her sister was finding this brown eyed specimen way to intriguing for her comfort.

Although, much to Elsa's relief, the strange man was as controlled as ever, only glancing at Rapunzel with amusement, along with the occasional smirk of course.

Elsa wasn't sure what to make of that.

Did…did her younger sister fancy this older, roguish…_man?_

She hoped not.

After all, mother's stories about men were frightening at best, and downright disturbing at worst. They would beat upon women, call them disgusting names, and _took _them into the woods.

Elsa shuddered. She had hoped to never encounter any men in her life.

She was broken out of her musing however, by Rapunzel agreeing to give the man back his strange jewelry, in exchange for a trip to see the floating lanterns.

Her voice came out before she could stop it, and she was positive that her face was scandalized. "Rapunzel! _No!"_

Her sharp exclamation made her receive both their attentions, which made the brown eyed man look confused, and her sister enraged.

She watched nervously as her sister straightened her shoulders as she attempted to stand firm. But as she walked forward she stumbled over the length over her hair, causing her façade to fail, thus reminding Elsa of how young she looked. How young she was.

Her sister would always be a baby in her eyes.

This time it was herself that stood tall, the look on her face giving no room for arguments. She breathed deeply, all too aware of her powers that were threating to spill forth.

_Conceal, don't feel._

"You are _never _leaving this tower Rapunzel, end of discussion. Now you give that…_thing _back his item, so that he will leave us be."

She saw her sister cringe at her sharp tone, while the man just stared at her, disbelief etched upon his face.

"I'm not a _thing,_" he started in an offended tone, "and my name is Flynn. Flynn Rider."

_What kind of name was Flynn Rider?_

She turned to face him properly upon following his declaration, her bright eyes staring upon him coolly. "You will give Flynn Rider back his item, so that he will leave us be."

Her sister stared at her in disbelief, tears pooling at the corners of her large green eyes. She sniffed, using her sleeve to wipe her face, before blinking them away.

She watched as she took a deep, shuddering breath. "_I hate you,"_ she whispered, her tone filled with more anger than Elsa had ever heard her use before.

Gulping hard, Elsa tried not to let the hurt on her face show, although she knew that she didn't succeed. Her sister was just angry was all, pouting because she didn't get what she wanted, her little sister had always been immature. Childish.

_Emotional._

"Fine," she stated, her voice hard.

She turned away from her then, moving towards the now silent Flynn. Her breath was coming out in cold puffs, and it took all the control she had not freeze the floor beneath her. Mustering up her control, she removed the long golden hair that had bound the man, paying particular attention in avoiding his skin.

She backed away quickly once the deed was finished, eyeing the man wearily; searching for any concealed weapons.

Once she was at least somewhat confidant that he wouldn't strike her once her back was turned, she made way towards the hiding spot that her sister had used in order to hide his possession.

She peeled back the boards easily enough, the highly polished possession glimmering in its wake.

She grabbed it daintily, unsure of how fragile it might be. It looked small and harmless enough, but she how looks could be deceiving.

She walked back towards Flynn, who had yet to move a single step from where she had last left him.

Nodding at him swiftly, she stretched her arm out, now dangling the item loosely between her fingers. She was but a few inches from his hands when she heard a loud, anguished sob.

She paused in her movements, now biting her bottom lip uncertainly.

She glanced over to where her sister was sitting, huddled tightly against the wall, violent sobs shaking her slim shoulders.

_It was her birthday, Elsa had made her cry on her birthday._

Despite the brown eyed man's protests, she retracted her arm back away from his reach, glad that he wasn't trying to wrestle it from her.

She clenched his possession tightly between her hands, the large jewels cutting into her palms. "Rapunzel," she started softly.

Her sister paused in her sobbing, turning to look up upon her wearily.

"'I-", she started, before the words died in her throat.

She wasn't sorry, she shouldn't be sorry. She had done nothing wrong. She was only listening to her mother, and she was doing it in order to protect her little sister. Couldn't Rapunzel see that? Didn't she know how dark and dangerous the outside world was?

Didn't she _understand?_

"Rapunzel, you know you cannot go outside. What about your hair? Did you honestly believe that you could hide it? That no one wouldn't know who you were?"

Her sister said nothing, but from her pained expression, Elsa knew that her sister knew the truth; knew that she would never be safe out there.

_She knows that she's destined to be in this tower._

"But," she continued, "I think that perhaps I could go…"

Her words obviously startled her sister, causing the girl to whip her head around sharply.

"But…but Elsa…"

Elsa shrugged, trying to not to appear as frightened as she felt.

"If I go…I don't think they'll be able to know about me. Not if I'm careful. And…I know it's not really the same, but I'd go-for you. I want to be able to bring you back a lantern."

Her sister sniffled again, although her expression was no longer pained. "You'd do that, for me?"

Elsa smiled, her heart beating rapidly. _What had she gotten herself into?_

"You know I'd do anything for you, Rapunzel."

Elsa was startled by her sisters' sudden movement; she flung her slim body around Elsa's own, clutching at her tightly.

The action made Elsa stiffen, even though there was no actual skin to skin contact between them. Finally, once she realized that her golden haired sister had no intention of letting go anytime soon, the beautiful blonde hesitantly returned the hug.

Immediately her body relaxed.

_Odd._

A loud, exaggerated cough ruined their reunion.

They both turned to look at the exasperated man expectantly.

"Yeah, nice little family bonding time, but I'd like my crown back now."

Elsa stared at him curiously, ''Your what?"

He furrowed his brows, looking between the two of them as though they were mad. "You know, the shiny, sparkling, worth a **ton **of money object that you're carelessly holding between your hands?"

Elsa saw her sister blush, and was sure her cheeks would be red as well, if they were able to do that, that is.

"Oh," she muttered lamely.

She was just going to give it to him again, before deciding to reenact the plan that her sister had started.

"'No," she stated simply.

His mouth opened, showing off his normal teeth again, and his tone was incredulous. "What do you mean by, no?"

Elsa smirked, unable to help herself. "What I mean is, -you're not getting your crown until you take me to see the floating lanterns."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, not gonna' happen."

"Fine," she said innocently, "this is a beautiful item to keep," she announced, peering at the crown closely.

She watched as he sputtered, before throwing his arms up in a distraught fashion. "Fine. _Fine. _I'll take you to see the floating lanterns, so you can bring one back to Blondie, and then you're going to give me back that crown, deal?"

Elsa nodded seriously, "Deal."

This time it was Rapunzel who cleared her throat. "But what about mother?"

"Mother isn't going to know. I'm going to be back before she gets home, and then were are never going to do anything like this again," she promised, her nerves starting to eat away at her stomach.

_Mother would be so disappointed if she knew about this._

"Alright Snow, we better get a move on soon. Although you might want to switch outfits first," he announced, eyeing her extravagant dress with apprehension.

Elsa supposed he had a point.

Handing the crown over to her sister, she quickly ran to her room. She untied the laces on her gown quickly, before deciding that her blue velvet, black sleeved dress would do. It clung to her figure, and was surely not going to get in her way. She glanced at her window, it looked warm enough, but then again, Elsa never did get cold. Therefore, in an effort not to appear odd, she threw on her purple shawl as well.

Once thoroughly satisfied with her outfit of choice, she quickly threw her hair up into a simply braided knot as well, figuring that she wouldn't have the change to properly care for it outside.

After she had slid on a pair of high black boots mother had given her for her last birthday, she made her way back to where Flynn and Rapunzel were waiting.

"Will this do?" She asked.

Flynn for his part glanced at her figure unabashedly, which did nothing to calm Elsa's fear about him.

She could handle looking.

As long as he didn't try and _take _her, that is.

"Yup, that'll do Snow."

Elsa winced at the nickname, it hit a bit close to home for her comfort.

"My name is Elsa," she offered, trying to diffuse the sharp tone her voice often carried.

"Elsa," he repeated softly.

Flynn had quickly decided to leave now rather than later, so Elsa gave her sister a quick hug just as the odd man started to scale back down the tower again.

"You coming Snow?" He called up, obviously ignoring her blatant dislike of the nickname.

Instead of answering him, she took some of Rapunzel's hair, looping it around as she had seen mother do. Once secured, she started to descend, and couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her throat at his wide eyed expression.

Her nerves started racing during her descend.

_She was being a bad girl. She was being disobedient to mother._

_She was __**leaving **__the tower._

It was the scariest and most liberating moment of her life.

Rapunzel for her part, was slow in lowering her downwards, an action in which Elsa was grateful for.

She felt the warm sun of her face, and breathed in the fresh air, and wondered if this was what mother did when she exited into the world.

Elsa didn't think so. Mother had never liked nature.

But too soon it was over, and before she knew it she was dangling a mere few inches away from the ground.

She glanced around wearily at the grass.

It looked spiky up close, and she wondered if it was going to punch through her shoes and spear her foot.

She heard a dull thump as Flynn reached the ground, and Elsa listened closely for a cry of pain.

Nothing.

He dusted his pants off, before moving to stand in front of her.

"Uh Snow, you can step down now. The grass doesn't bite," he teased, although Elsa found no humor in him.

Breathing in and out, she tried her best to relax, although it was hard, seeing as she was well aware of Flynn staring upon her shaking figure.

_Come on Elsa, you can do this. For Rapunzel._

_Rapunzel. Rapunzel. Rapunzel. Rapunzel._

And with that, she stepped down.'

Thankfully, there was no piercing feeling, save the light crunch the grass made beneath her feet, and Elsa couldn't quite keep the smile off her face.

She had done it.

Rapunzel is going to be proud.

Mother will be furious.

And with that, Elsa followed Flynn Rider out into the dangerous, deadly outside world, and couldn't help but wonder what this strange place had in store for her.

Would she see murderers?

Would the dangerous animals mother had told her about come out and attack her?

Would she be poisoned? Mugged? _Taken?_

Elsa felt her blood run cold. She wanted to go back, back to where it was safe.

She strengthened her resolve.

She couldn't.

She had to do this.

For Rapunzel, she thought determinedly.

And with that, she walked onwards.


End file.
